The Hindu Kush Himalayan region encompasses an area of 4.2 million km2 of hills and mountains in the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. With its vast expanses of snow and ice, the region it is known as the water tower of Asia, which is being significantly affected by climate change. The meltwater from Himalayan snow and ice feeds 10 large river systems of South Asia: the Amu Darya, Brahmaputra, Ganges, Indus, Irrawaddy, Mekong, Salween, Tarim, Yangtze and Yellow Rivers.

This publication gives a brief overview of the regional consultation facilitated by ICIMOD to improve collaboration between China and Pakistan in the Karakoram-Pamir Landscape. The paper gives highlights of the consultation held in December in Kathmandu, Nepal and lists past efforts made for regional collaboration in the Karakoram-Pamir Landscape. It also gives an account of the sharing of the process document which describes the landscape and the importance of the transboundary approach to ecosystem management in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region.

From 2008 to 2010, ICIMOD, in partnership with partners in China, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, conducted a series of four case studies under the Sida-supported project Too Much and Too Little Water. The series looks at responses and field experiences to support the development of adaptation approaches, including policy and institutional support, to meet the challenges emerging from climate change and other drivers of change. This publication is based on one these case studies.

The Indian Government announced its formal nuclear doctrine on 4 January 2003, almost five years after testing its nuclear weapons capability in May 1998. While the one-page document was vague and subject to interpretation, what was clear was that it reiterated India's 'No First Use' policy.

This Issue Brief is based on proceedings of a workshop re-examining India's nuclear doctrine, organised by the ORF's National Security Initiative and held in New Delhi in August 2014.

The key points that emerged from the discussions are the following:

The food price spikes of 2007–08 brought food security into sharp focus on the global agenda. Declines in international commodity markets, financial speculation in low cereal stocks, dramatic weather events, soaring oil prices, and growth in biofuels competing for cropland merged to produce a global crisis. Coupled with the growing impacts of climate change, the question of whether we would have enough food to feed a growing world population in the future vaulted to the top of political agendas.

The Hindu Kush Himalayan region is predicted to be severely affected and socially vulnerable to climate change. This study delves into how political processes hinder or promote the adoption of sustainable and equitable adaptation strategies to water-related stress and hazards in the context of climate change in India, Pakistan, Nepal and China.

The present report was prepared in response to General Assembly resolution 64/205, in which the Assembly requested the Secretary-General to report to it at its sixty-sixth session on the status of sustainable development in mountain regions.